Hockley Valley Resort

Hockley Valley Resort, located in the Hills of Headwaters, is a year-round resort destination located in the heart of some of Ontario’s most picturesque countryside, one hour from downtown Toronto. I was fortunate enough to be invited for a tour of the newly renovated facilities by the kind folks at Pilot PMR and, despite a misty, rainy day, thoroughly enjoyed discovering this new-to-me hidden gem. First opening its doors in 1985, the resort has recently undergone a $5 million transformation that includes a two-acre fruit and vegetable garden, three new restaurants and a strong commitment to local fare. The Resort is owned and operated by the Adamo family, originally from Calabria, Italy, who have been in the hospitality industry for more than 35 years, starting with a catering business in 1972.

The Resort’s transformation has taken place over the past year and half under the stewardship of President and General Manager John Paul Adamo, who was previously the resort’s Executive Chef. The 300-acre Resort features 104 luxury rooms and suites and 14 meeting rooms and is home to a championship 18-hole, Scottish links-style golf course designed by renowned Canadian golf course architect Thomas McBroom, as well as 15 scenic ski and snowboard runs for all levels, including an upper and lower freestyle terrain park.

Throughout the garden are also pear, apple, cherry and plum trees. The garden provides a constantly evolving variety of fresh fare for the resort’s restaurants – Eighty Five, Babbo and Tavola. Head Gardener Santos Bartucci is a lifelong organic grower and local resident. Local farmer David Warburton of Caledon Farms helped develop the garden’s original crop inventory. The garden supplies more than 80 per cent of the produce for the resort’s restaurants and local farmers and purveyors provide the rest of the restaurants’ locally-grown ingredients. All breads and pastas are made in-house. Hockley Valley Resort supports local farmers, producers and artisans by hosting an open-air farmers’ market every Sunday between June and October.

Dining Rabii Jaouhari, the new executive chef at Hockley Valley Resort was educated at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Orlando, Jaouhari has worked in 5-star resorts and hotels in Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and Switzerland. Restaurant chef, Daniel Mezzolo, prior to arriving at Hockley Valley, dedicated numerous years to perfecting his passion at a number of acclaimed resort hotels, a Michelin star restaurant in Italy, and throughout the Caribbean.

Tavola | Chef’s Table With seating for up to 14 people, Tavola offers a unique, private-dining experience with a full view of the kitchen as guests’ meals are prepared. The menu for each seating is prepared on the spot after guests are told about the day’s choices available from the garden and kitchen pantry. Guests are also offered a walk through the fruit and vegetable garden. Dinner and wine pairing starting at $125

Babbo Wine, Cheese & Tasting Bar With both indoor and outdoor seating, the menu at Babbo changes weekly based on the resort’s local and fresh approach to food and what is in season in the resort’s extensive fruit and vegetable garden. Babbo seats 36 guests. Dinner for Two: $150

Restaurant Eighty Five Bar & Lounge Classic meets modern Mediterranean at the new culinary hotspot, Restaurant Eighty Five. The menu maintains a strong commitment to fresh and local ingredients. Offering a variety of dishes from a seasonal lunch/lounge menu, a tapas menu serviced from the open concept food and mozzarella bar, and a rotating à la carte dinner menu, the restaurant offers a mixed-dining capacity of 180 guests. Eighty Five showcases elements of the kitchen and offers guests the chance to interact with chefs. Dinner for Two: $100

The Resort also offers the chance to eat in the gorgeous wine room…

And let’s not forget to showcase the meat curing room – gorgeous and proudly in full view. Talk about knowing where your food comes from!

A definite highlight for us was the tasting menu that we had the opportunity to sample. We started out in the kitchen with House-cured & Imported Cheese & Salumi and Antipasti…

If this was meant to tantalize my taste buds, it certainly did the trick. I am already planning when I can take Neil back to experience everything Hockley Valley has to offer. The Resort also features an 8,000 square foot European-inspired, full-service spa with 18 private treatment rooms offering a variety of spa packages and treatments to choose from including skin care, reflexology, massage therapy and men’s treatments, an outdoor saltwater pool, indoor pool, dry sauna and hot tub, as well as a squash court and a fitness room with universal weights, cardio equipment and free weights and is home to a 9-hole disc golf course. Truly, something for everyone!

This is a *new to me* place as well. Your write-up was wonderful, very informative with great photographs. Certainly entices one to want to check out this amazing resort. Love that 80% of the kitchen’s produce is grown from their own gardens and that the other 20% is sourced locally. Also love that dining patrons are able to view the meal prep. Speaks volumns to the pride of not only the owners but of the kitchen staff as well.

WOW… that looks like a wonderful place! Cozy, modern, focused… great spot. Thanks for sharing, Mardi. I used to come up to Toronto a lot back in my wild, single days… I need to revisit and take a trip to the country side. I only remember Toronto’s great nightlife. 😉

All my trips out to Ontario and I’d never heard of this place – although admittedly I usually go south or east when I venture out of Toronto. Sounds amazing – I love that they have the on-site orchards and gardens and work their menus around them. I’d love to see more resorts doing that sort of thing in addition to buying local produce. But I have to confess, every time I see an Ontario “ski/snowboard” resort I have to giggle. I tell all my friends out there that you have “baby mountains” 😉
Great photos too, Mardi!

The thing that I’m most taking away from reading this though? McBroom is an awesome surname. I was pretty sure I would not change my name if I ever get married, but now I’m thinking I might change it to McBroom and convince my husband to do the same.